General Election July 2024

Author
Discussion

robemcdonald

9,407 posts

211 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
If we’d had PR in 2019 we’d have ended up with this.

I don’t remember too many right leaning posters advocating it then.

bitchstewie

58,514 posts

225 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
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Remarkable how many Damascene conversions we've seen and will definitely be seeing soon around the FPTP system not being fit for purpose.

Like you I don't remember massive majorities being a problem in 2019.

People are just crying because their team lost and lost very very badly.

vaud

54,988 posts

170 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
robemcdonald said:
If we’d had PR in 2019 we’d have ended up with this.

I don’t remember too many right leaning posters advocating it then.
STV isn't quite the same as PR?

Lefty

18,062 posts

217 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
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SpidersWeb said:
Ignoring tactical voting, if there had been a straightforward proportional representation system then with two seats to declare

Labour would have got 219 instead of 412

Conservatives would have got 154 instead of 121

Reform would have got 93 instead of 4

Lib Dems would have got 80 instead of 71

Greens would have got 45 instead of 4

SNP would have got 17 instead of 9

and then small differences elsewhere.

So FPTP is a harsh mistress, but Labour would still be in power, albeit in a coalition with the LibDems to repel a coalition of Conservative and Reform.

Or even worse, a coalition of Labour and Greens would have been sufficient, but then would you see a mad coalition of the Conservatives, Reform and LibDems to take power?

Or even more insane if Labour and LibDems paired up, an utterly insane coalition of Conservatives, Reform, Greens, and SNP to beat them.

FPTP might deliver some odd results but proportional representation could deliver some utterly crazy governments.
Thanks for doing the sums and it makes sense but your first statement is a huge assumption that skews the numbers - I think there was an awful lot of tactical voting going on.

PR would completely remove that and would also likely increase turnout because a lot of people think their views or beliefs and therefore their vote are worthless because voting for a minority party won’t achieve anything.

robemcdonald

9,407 posts

211 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
uk66fastback said:
Can someone show me what Reform policies are ‘far right’?

The Tories are central already. And look what good it did them. There’s barely a fag paper between the two main parties as it stands.
Stopping “non essential” immigration.
Scrapping net zero.
Banning transgender in schools.
Leaving the ECHR.
Tax relief on school fees.
Raising stamp duty to £750k.
Tax cuts for businesses.

These would all be considered right wing, some more than others obviously.

HTH

tamore

8,790 posts

299 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
my team lost…… the voting system is unfair/broken/unfit for purpose

my team won……. FPTP is great!

JagLover

44,720 posts

250 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
robemcdonald said:
Stopping “non essential” immigration.
Scrapping net zero.
Banning transgender in schools.
Leaving the ECHR.
Tax relief on school fees.
Raising stamp duty to £750k.
Tax cuts for businesses.

These would all be considered right wing, some more than others obviously.

HTH
He asked what would be considered "far-right" not right-wing.

robemcdonald

9,407 posts

211 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
JagLover said:
robemcdonald said:
Stopping “non essential” immigration.
Scrapping net zero.
Banning transgender in schools.
Leaving the ECHR.
Tax relief on school fees.
Raising stamp duty to £750k.
Tax cuts for businesses.

These would all be considered right wing, some more than others obviously.

HTH
He asked what would be considered "far-right" not right-wing.
Well getting rid of the ECHR definitely fulfills that requirement.

Sway

31,822 posts

209 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
robemcdonald said:
JagLover said:
robemcdonald said:
Stopping “non essential” immigration.
Scrapping net zero.
Banning transgender in schools.
Leaving the ECHR.
Tax relief on school fees.
Raising stamp duty to £750k.
Tax cuts for businesses.

These would all be considered right wing, some more than others obviously.

HTH
He asked what would be considered "far-right" not right-wing.
Well getting rid of the ECHR definitely fulfills that requirement.
I'm no Reform liker but I really don't think that line, in and of itself, is "far right".

If it was "remove all human rights from immigrants", or "remove all human rights legislation", then absolutely - but merely leaving an international agreement on human rights doesn't in and of itself mean much.

robemcdonald

9,407 posts

211 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
Sway said:
robemcdonald said:
JagLover said:
robemcdonald said:
Stopping “non essential” immigration.
Scrapping net zero.
Banning transgender in schools.
Leaving the ECHR.
Tax relief on school fees.
Raising stamp duty to £750k.
Tax cuts for businesses.

These would all be considered right wing, some more than others obviously.

HTH
He asked what would be considered "far-right" not right-wing.
Well getting rid of the ECHR definitely fulfills that requirement.
I'm no Reform liker but I really don't think that line, in and of itself, is "far right".

If it was "remove all human rights from immigrants", or "remove all human rights legislation", then absolutely - but merely leaving an international agreement on human rights doesn't in and of itself mean much.
Well we can agree to disagree.

Castrol for a knave

6,063 posts

106 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
Pie, like Marina Hyde, always nails it..


https://youtu.be/ghr2M8mh8MA?si=oSspWj51CRIGlVLW

MC Bodge

24,756 posts

190 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
Lefty said:
SpidersWeb said:
Ignoring tactical voting, if there had been a straightforward proportional representation system then with two seats to declare

Labour would have got 219 instead of 412

Conservatives would have got 154 instead of 121

Reform would have got 93 instead of 4

Lib Dems would have got 80 instead of 71

Greens would have got 45 instead of 4

SNP would have got 17 instead of 9

and then small differences elsewhere.

So FPTP is a harsh mistress, but Labour would still be in power, albeit in a coalition with the LibDems to repel a coalition of Conservative and Reform.

Or even worse, a coalition of Labour and Greens would have been sufficient, but then would you see a mad coalition of the Conservatives, Reform and LibDems to take power?

Or even more insane if Labour and LibDems paired up, an utterly insane coalition of Conservatives, Reform, Greens, and SNP to beat them.

FPTP might deliver some odd results but proportional representation could deliver some utterly crazy governments.
Thanks for doing the sums and it makes sense but your first statement is a huge assumption that skews the numbers - I think there was an awful lot of tactical voting going on.

PR would completely remove that and would also likely increase turnout because a lot of people think their views or beliefs and therefore their vote are worthless because voting for a minority party won’t achieve anything.
Quite right. We should have PR.

The current system is based on a handful of wealthy landowner chaps, hundreds of years ago, in an area picking one of their number to go to "that London" to represent their interests.

It doesn't scale up well at all to universal suffrage and modern communications.

How many new democracies would choose to use UK style FPTP now? Even regions of the UK didn't.


Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 6th July 09:20

bitchstewie

58,514 posts

225 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
Sway said:
I'm no Reform liker but I really don't think that line, in and of itself, is "far right".

If it was "remove all human rights from immigrants", or "remove all human rights legislation", then absolutely - but merely leaving an international agreement on human rights doesn't in and of itself mean much.
Let's be honest "remove all human rights from immigrants" is the intention behind any talk of leaving the ECHR.

We can debate the extent around whether the word "all" applies but I don't think it would start and end with whatever the Government felt was needed to get people on the flight to Rwanda.

It's a way of othering a group of people.

And if we were out the ECHR do you trust a Government of the sort the electorate we've just exorcised to leave it at that?

It's very easy to slip into "well it's just prisoners" or "well it's just one more tiny right we're taking away" and so long as it's a group you're not part of what's the problem?

Is the ECHR perfect? Probably not I wouldn't claim to know lots about it.

Is there a reason that every country in Europe except Belarus and the Russian Federation are signatories to it? That probably ought to inform peoples thinking on it.

Edited by bhstewie on Saturday 6th July 09:23

Sway

31,822 posts

209 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
bhstewie said:
Sway said:
I'm no Reform liker but I really don't think that line, in and of itself, is "far right".

If it was "remove all human rights from immigrants", or "remove all human rights legislation", then absolutely - but merely leaving an international agreement on human rights doesn't in and of itself mean much.
Let's be honest "remove all human rights from immigrants" is the intention behind any talk of leaving the ECHR.

We can debate the extent whether the word "all" applies but I don't think it would start and end with whatever the Government felt was needed to get people on the flight to Rwanda.

It's a way of othering a group of people.

And if we were out the ECHR do you trust a Government of the sort the electorate we've just exorcised to leave it at that?

It's very easy to slip into "well it's just prisoners" or "well it's just one more tiny right we're taking away".

Is the ECHR perfect? Probably not I wouldn't claim to know lots about it.

Is there a reason that every country in Europe except Belarus and the Russian Federation are signatories to it? That probably ought to inform peoples thinking on it.
Look, I get the potential subtext. Reform are toxic as fk, but as said, that line in and of itself isn't "far right".

There are plenty of nations with strong and effective human rights legislation that don't feel the need for the ECHR. As it's a requirement for EU/EFTA/etc., membership, it's not an endorsement of the ECHR that countries have signed up to it.

Just like someone buying a load of Macans to get a GT3 allocation don't actually have to like Macans.

What stops a wave of right wing populism across Europe changing the ECHR, just as you're worried the Tories would have done with UK specific legislation? Nothing!

Edited by Sway on Saturday 6th July 09:23

MC Bodge

24,756 posts

190 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
bhstewie said:
Is there a reason that every country in Europe except Belarus and the Russian Federation are signatories to it? That probably ought to inform peoples thinking on it.
Although that would concern me, that will not bother some people.

Blue62

9,776 posts

167 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
classicaholic said:
I am really finding it hard to see how Starmer has a true mandate when he only increased Labours vote by 2% over Corbin. I can see why 40% of the eligible votors don’t bother, perhaps time for a change whe only just over 2 out of 10 eligible vote for the ruling party.
I think we are going to hear a lot more about our voting system in the coming months, some unholy alliances in the form of Reform, Greens and LD’s!

That said, looking back at previous elections the story is pretty much the same, Cameron in 2015 being a notable example. I wonder if low turnout is a function of low trust in politics or the system?

PositronicRay

28,027 posts

198 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
Castrol for a knave said:
Pie, like Marina Hyde, always nails it..


https://youtu.be/ghr2M8mh8MA?si=oSspWj51CRIGlVLW
He comes across as a bit of a tt, and exactly the same as the people he's taking the piss out of.


1/10

ClaphamGT3

11,731 posts

258 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
As a life-long Tory, we needed to lose this election.

We needed to lose because nothing else was shaking us out of an eight year obsession with doing what we had always laughed at Labour for doing - internally obsessing about ideology that nobody in the real world cares about
& pandering to an echo chamber of our own members.

We allowed Labour to nick the core Tory proposition of reaching out to the wider population, being pragmatic and reliably doing the things that people care about; making them better off, keeping them safe and secure, enabling them to run their own lives and giving them confidence that their children will have more opportunity than they had

bitchstewie

58,514 posts

225 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
Sway said:
Look, I get the potential subtext. Reform are toxic as fk, but as said, that line in and of itself isn't "far right".

There are plenty of nations with strong and effective human rights legislation that don't feel the need for the ECHR. As it's a requirement for EU/EFTA/etc., membership, it's not an endorsement of the ECHR that countries have signed up to it.

Just like someone buying a load of Macans to get a GT3 allocation don't actually have to like Macans.

What stops a wave of right wing populism across Europe changing the ECHR, just as you're worried the Tories would have done with UK specific legislation? Nothing!

Edited by Sway on Saturday 6th July 09:23
I agree that written down lots of it looks reasonably benign and the sort of stuff you could possibly be persuaded to go along with.

I can find bits of their manifesto that sound perfectly sensible and that if I hadn't done my homework on them that I might find mightily persuasive.

What's far right about Farage and his candidates is when they get caught saying the quiet part out loud and you know what they really think.

Their manifesto will never say "we hate blacks Jews and migrants and we like fascists" but it's remarkable how many of them get caught posting it or recorded saying it.

Sway

31,822 posts

209 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
bhstewie said:
Sway said:
Look, I get the potential subtext. Reform are toxic as fk, but as said, that line in and of itself isn't "far right".

There are plenty of nations with strong and effective human rights legislation that don't feel the need for the ECHR. As it's a requirement for EU/EFTA/etc., membership, it's not an endorsement of the ECHR that countries have signed up to it.

Just like someone buying a load of Macans to get a GT3 allocation don't actually have to like Macans.

What stops a wave of right wing populism across Europe changing the ECHR, just as you're worried the Tories would have done with UK specific legislation? Nothing!

Edited by Sway on Saturday 6th July 09:23
I agree that written down lots of it looks reasonably benign and the sort of stuff you could possibly be persuaded to go along with.

I can find bits of their manifesto that sound perfectly sensible and that if I hadn't done my homework on them that I might find mightily persuasive.

What's far right about Farage and his candidates is when they get caught saying the quiet part out loud and you know what they really think.

Their manifesto will never say "we hate blacks Jews and migrants and we like fascists" but it's remarkable how many of them get caught posting it or recorded saying it.
Agreed. Funnily enough currently chatting with another PHer how it's damned irritating the only party putting forward actual sensible things like scrapping IR35, or some of the changes to business taxation for SMEs and stamp duty is a party with such a toxic undercurrent through their makeup.

Prior to this election there was a whole quadrant of the political compass with no party to represent them. This election, that cohort was added to by half of the quadrant next to it.

When there's so much pressure (rightly) to 'just vote', even for the 'least worst' option - unfortunately I'm not surprised so many went to Farage, as for many people Reform truly was the least worst option, requiring as much nose holding whilst putting the cross in the box as those voting for Johnson over Corbyn, etc.